Chancellor: New Texas A&M president doesn't act decisively

Chancellor gives A&M president poor score

By Jeannie Kever |
June 4, 2009

Dr. Elsa Murano, president of Texas A&M University, in her office in February.

The last few months have not been easy for Elsa Murano, the first female and first Hispanic president of Texas A&M University.

Last week, the chancellor of the sprawling system, Mike McKinney, floated the idea of eliminating her job and combining it with his.

And on Thursday, the university released McKinney’s scathing evaluation of Murano’s first year on the job, accusing her of not acting decisively and resisting ideas with which she does not agree.

Faced with harsh criticism from alumni, faculty and a former College Station campus president, the proposal to combine the chancellor’s job with that of the president of its flagship campus won’t happen immediately — if ever, university system officials say.

“It’s too large of a job for one person,” said Ray Bowen, who served as A&M president from 1994 to 2002. “There are too many hours of the day required.”

A system spokesman said Thursday that the suggestion focused on finances and was not directed at Murano, who in December 2007 was named A&M’s president.

McKinney mentioned the possibility in an interview with the Eagle newspaper in Bryan-College Station last week. He and A&M regents have since declined to discuss it, but spokesman Rod Davis said it was not meant as an attack on Murano.

“It came up in the context of the economy,” Davis said.

He said there are no plans to implement the change, which would require approval by the Board of Regents.

But McKinney’s most recent evaluation of Murano shows that the chancellor was sharply critical of her performance during her first year in office.

Critical evaluation

In the evaluation, dated February 2009, McKinney ranked Murano as average or below on most of 40 criteria. She received a 1, the lowest rating, for acting decisively and in a timely manner, as well as for initiative and resourcefulness. She earned a 2, the second-lowest rating, for her relationship with the Board of Regents and with McKinney.

McKinney, a physician and former chief of staff to Gov. Rick Perry, did praise Murano’s stewardship of a new scholarship program for students from low-income families, as well as her work on an academic master plan for the campus.

He also noted her management skills in dealing with Hurricane Ike, which forced A&M to close the branch campus in Galveston temporarily.

But he was critical of what he deemed “passive resistance to anything with which she disagrees” and said she did a poor job of “carrying out board (and) system decisions with which she disagrees.”

Murano “fails to assume responsibility for decisions. (Should work WITH faculty, not FOR),” he noted.

Murano issued a stinging and lengthy rebuttal to the evaluation, noting that “I completely and absolutely disagree and reject the results of this evaluation.”

She declined to comment further.

Faculty opposed

The possibility of one person running both the system — which oversees all 11 campuses in the A&M System, including Prairie View A&M and Tarleton State University — and the College Station campus had drawn fierce criticism.

More than 85 percent of faculty members opposed the idea in an online poll, Faculty Senate Speaker Robert Bednarz said.

Bednarz, a geography professor, was among a number of A&M faculty members who met earlier this week with Regent James Wilson of Sugar Land to discuss the issue.

After that meeting, Bednarz said, he believed “regents never intended to push for this as a priority or their first and best solution. It seems to me (Wilson) was trying to convey the notion that … it was unlikely.”

Murano’s comments

Murano has said little beyond sending an e-mail to A&M students, faculty and staff in which she acknowledged the importance of fiscal prudence but warned that academic quality is an equal concern.

“While we are allconcerned about the pressures of the current economic situation, I know that we are simultaneously mindful not to sacrifice academic quality, or our national reputation,” she wrote.

Murano’s selection as president was controversial because she had not been among the finalists named by an advisory committee.

At the time, faculty leaders said regents showed little respect for the concept of shared governance, a tradition in which campus administrators consult with faculty on major decisions, because they disregarded faculty input.

Bednarz said faculty members have the same complaint about the proposal combining the chancellor’s and president’s jobs.

“The faculty wants to be helpful,” he said. “We are a resource that could be exploited to improve decision-making and prevent unintended consequences,” he said.

The good of the schools

Alumni have also weighed in.

Henry Ortega, a San Antonio architect who serves as chairman of the Texas A&M Hispanic Network, said his group is especially worried about losing Murano as a role model for Hispanic students.

“Both offices are major, major responsibilities, and the governance of both would be a real challenge to anyone,” Ortega said. “If she elected to drop out, we would be disappointed, especially because she is Hispanic.”

But Bowen suggested another problem with combining the two jobs, which was last done several decades ago, when the system and the flagship campus were both far smaller.

“Aside from my personal angst about what’s good for my university, another question for citizens of the state is: Is this good for Prairie View? Is this good for Tarleton?” he said.